NPF Scraps Police Constable Candidates List Over Integrity Issues

PSC's list of candidates for police constable is rejected by NPF due to claims of corruption

Nigeria Police Force rejects Police Service Commission's list of police constable candidates due to allegations of corruption and irregularities. NPF spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, cites complaints from candidates and stakeholders, and discrepancies in the list, including unqualified and untrained individuals. NPF demands a review for a transparent and credible recruitment process.

According to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), claims of corruption and irregularities have tarnished the present police constable recruitment process.

The force representative, Muyiwa Adejobi, declared on Saturday, June 15, that the NPF formally rejects the most current list of qualified applicants released by the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The representative of the force claimed that the NPF was “inundated with a series of complaints and allegations of corruption raised by unsuspecting candidates and stakeholders on the irregularities that marred the exercise most especially the disappearance of the names of screened candidates who were successful to the last stage.”

“Several names of persons purported to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not take part in the recruitment exercise,” Adejobi said after the PSC portal was examined closely.

It was indicated by him that a number of names from the released list also belong to candidates who “failed either the physical screening exercise or the computer-based test (CBT) or both.”

Medical conditions excluded certain candidates, according to Adejobi, who added that they “also made the list of successful candidates as published by the PSC.”

“The reaction of the IGP was without prejudice to the power of the Commission to recruit for the police as ruled by the Supreme court but this power does not include the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police.

“Noting that it is the police that bears the brunt of recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the PSC.

“The same people who recruited anyhow for the police today will turn round to accuse the police tomorrow of inefficiency when their recruits start messing up.

“The police therefore has since dissociated itself from the published list and called for a review that will be transparent and credible.”

Adejobi stated that the NPF strongly disapproved of the circumstances and called for a thorough examination of the procedure to guarantee that the NPF hires people who are capable, competent, trainable, and productive.

Applications for the constable position were invited in October 2023 by the PSC and the NPF.

The commission also sought applications from anyone interested in becoming artisans in particular fields.

As part of the hiring procedure for the force, 171,956 candidates were shortlisted by February for computer-based exams.

The PSC released the list of selected applicants for the constable and specialized positions in the NPF on Tuesday, June 4.

The commission reported that all 774 local government areas in the nation were represented among the successful candidates.

Solomon Arase, a former PSC chairman, stressed that the selection procedure was stringent in order to improve the NPF's capability and efficacy.

Arase's tenure as PSC chairman came to an end on Monday, June 10, as he was replaced by Hashimu Argungu, a retired police officer, who assumed the role of chairman.